Italy's Dust Devil, composed primarily of current and former members of Frozen Tears, cite Iron Maiden as their main influence on their Facebook page. I can definitely hear that, especially in the opening twin-guitar riff from "Blurred Mind" the first track on their 2013 EP, Riled Up. As they are from Italy and are plying Traditional Metal waters, there's also a bit of Strana Officina mixed in their sound. The tempos are mainly mid-paced and the vocals are decent but not overpowering. The songwriting is pretty generic but the solos of Lapo Torrini and Leonardo Taiti are above average. Lots of runs up and down the fret board right out of the Smith/Murray book.

I can hear what Dust Devil is going for but they don't really get there on Riled Up. They are held back by run-of-the-mill songwriting and it doesn't sound like they truly went for it in the studio. The band is oddly restrained leaving Riled Up a bit dull. If the band pulls out all the stops next time around, they could be on to something.